Each year, March is tagged as Endometriosis Awareness Month around the world. For the women living with the disease, the increased education and fundraising efforts each year present an optimistic outlook for the debilitating condition. Nearly 2 million women in the UK alone, or one in ten, have endometriosis, but it is estimated that another several hundred thousand may have the condition without knowing it. Many do not fully understand what endometriosis is or why it warrants an entire month of education and awareness. But given its prevalence, it is necessary to learn more about the disease and how it impacts women in the UK and beyond.
Causes and Symptoms of Endometriosis
Endometriosis takes place when the tissue typically found in the reproductive organs of an adult woman transplant themselves and grow elsewhere in the body. In most cases, endometriosis tissue growth is prevalent around the pelvis, ovaries, and fallopian tubes, but some more serious instances involve tissue growth on the abdomen, the lungs, or other major organs. The tissue still acts like it would in the womb, shedding and bleeding each month, but because it has no place to go, it can cause severe discomfort for women living with the disease.
Endometriosis does not have a single cause, and why it occurs is still a bit of a mystery to researchers. However, some purport that common causes include:
- Menstruation retrograde, which occurs when blood containing endometrial cells flows backward through the fallopian tubes
- Peritoneal cell transformation, when the cells lining the abdomen transform into endometrial cells
- Surgical scar implantation
- Endometrial cell transport
- Immune system disorders
There are also known risk factors for endometriosis, including having never given birth, experiencing an early onset menstruation cycle, uterine abnormalities, and higher levels of estrogen in the body. Some women develop endometriosis due to late-onset menopause, a low body mass index, or high consumption of alcohol. However, endometriosis has some impact on women regardless of cause or underlying condition.
Misdiagnosis Impacts
The symptoms of endometriosis range from severe pain to fatigue and depression, but they vary greatly from individual to individual. Some women may experience food sensitivity, especially to dairy and gluten, while others may have little to no symptoms at all. Endometriosis may also cause constipation, diarrhea, shortness of breath, and pain while urinating or during sexual intercourse. The complexities of endometriosis symptoms may be part of the reason the disease is misdiagnosed so regularly.
A legal team working with medical negligence claims for misdiagnosis explains that the warning signs of endometriosis are often overlooked as normal menstruation pain or discomfort, irritable bowel syndrome, or unexplained infertility. While these conditions may be linked to endometriosis, only an accurate and timely diagnosis of the condition allows women the opportunity to get the proper treatment. Without it, endometriosis can mean leaving the workforce due to symptoms, damaging relationships, and an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. On average, endometriosis takes more than seven years to diagnosis, which by any standards, is far too long.
Getting a correct diagnosis of endometriosis requires a specialised surgery that uses images to identify and then eliminate abnormal tissue growth around the reproductive organs. While the procedure can offer some respite from pain and other symptoms, it is not often available through a woman’s GP. This lack of training and accessibility means women are left with ill-suggested treatment options, or at worst, no recommendation on what to do in order to ease the pain.
What Can be Done?
Endometriosis Awareness Month is meant to offer education to those living with or caring for someone with endometriosis, but it also is an ideal time to contribute time, money, or both to the cause. Leading charitable organisation Endometriosis UK has a vast amount of educational resources, events, and research findings which can be accessed on its website by anyone interested in learning more or donating to endometriosis studies. In addition to gathering more information about what endometriosis is, how it is diagnosed and treated, individuals should talk to their loved ones about the disease openly and honestly. Taking away some of the stigmas of endometriosis and the misconceptions about what it is and isn’t is necessary in making forward progress toward faster, more accurate diagnoses for millions of women.